Monday, January 13, 1997
M. VOLLEYBALL:
Stillwell, Nihipali lead UCLA in kills for a powerful attackBy
Jennifer Kollenborn
Daily Bruin Contributor
Last weekend the men’s volleyball team played in its first
exhibition tournament of the year at the 33rd Annual UC Santa
Barbara Elephant Bar and Restaurant Collegiate Invitational.
UCLA placed third out of 24 teams, winning a total of six
matches and losing two in the preseason tournament.
On Friday the Bruins defeated the Colorado Buffalos, the UC
Santa Cruz Slugs and the Loyola Marymount Lions; the Bruins lost to
the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos and the Pacific Tigers.
Despite the losses Friday, UCLA entered the Santa Barbara Event
Center Saturday with their heads held high awaiting its next
challenger.
On Saturday UCLA swept the La Verne Leopards and defeated the
USC Trojans in a tight three-game match.
"I come to this tournament every year with two goals," said head
coach Al Scates. "First, to play all 14 players and second, to win
it."
Although the Bruins did not win it, all 14 of the players helped
UCLA reach the final consolation game Saturday.
UCLA came out victorious over the Calgary Dinosaurs (a Canadian
club team) in a close five-game match, 11-15, 15-3, 15-10, 13-15,
15-9.
In the first game against Calgary, UCLA started off on top. The
combination of freshman Brandon Taliaferro’s unstoppable jump serve
and sophomore transfer Andor Gyulai at the net, helped UCLA take
the lead right off 6-3. Then, Calgary turned the game around with
Steve Cann spiking one ball one after another for the final win,
15-11.
Game two proved to be a different story when the Bruins whipped
Calgary 15-3. Taliaferro’s ace set the lead for the Bruins at 2-0.
Then Scates substituted Trong Nguyen in for Tom Stillwell. Nguyen’s
serves led the Bruins to a lead of 10-3. Fred Robins’ ace serve
finished it off for a final score, 15-3.
UCLA dominated game three with Taliaferro’s two back-to-back ace
serves putting UCLA on top, 7-3. Calgary could not take the heat
and called for a timeout. But apparently the timeout did not help
the Dinosaurs as the Bruins beat them 15-10.
The Bruins lost frame four in a close 13-15 contest, and in the
final game UCLA defeated Calgary 15-9.
"We lost because UCLA out blocked us," said head coach Greg
Ryan. The Bruins outblocked the Dinosaurs 20 to five.
Tom Stillwell led the team with an overall attacking percentage
of .552. Stillwell had 18 kills, 6 digs and 2 aces. Next in line,
Brandon Taliaferro led with 6 aces and a .417 average. Adam Naeve
averaged .400 with 13 kills, 11 blocks and 2 aces. And Paul
Nihipali averaged .310 with 18 kills, 6 digs and 6 blocks.
"It was a learning experience for all of us," UCLA sophomore
Fred Robins said. "I’m excited to see how our team does this
season."